Category: IGN

Ubisoft has released the huge and highly anticipated Title Update 1.4.0 for Star Wars Outlaws on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, which, perhaps most notably, cuts stealth requirements from almost the entire game.

A blog post detailed the patch notes, which are available below, and confirmed the removal of forced stealth (meaning players will no longer have to return to a checkpoint when triggering “do not raise the alarm” or “do not get caught” objectives) alongside improvements to enemy AI and detection, facial expressions and animations, and more.

“This Title Update brings changes to combat and stealth allowing for greater player choice, the ability to now keep pick-up weapons in more situations, visual options to allow for a sharper image and much more to improve your journey across the galaxy,” Ubisoft said.

It doesn’t address the issues affecting some PC players who updated to Windows 11 24H2, however, but Ubisoft said it is “working hard to deploy a permanent fix” as soon as possible.

Star Wars Outlaws creative director Drew Rechner promised to make big changes to “elevate the game experience to better meet” player expectations.

Sentiments such as these are often seen in the wake of disastrous game launches but Star Wars Outlaws debuted to positive reviews. Poor sales shook a struggling Ubisoft, however, and it is now working to improve the game ahead of what it hopes will be a sales bump alongside its Steam launch and the holiday period.

Star Wars Outlaws Title Update 1.4.0 Patch Notes

General Gameplay

• Fixed an issue where players could get stuck by not being able to take off using the Trailblazer after certain missions
• Kay now holsters a two-handed weapon in more situations such as when climbing, grappling or using the speeder
• Improved AI speeder usage
• Improved enemy detection
• Improved enemy tactical decision-making in combat to encourage more active management of their positioning
• Decreased enemy damage per shot while increasing the damage cadence increase over time
• Improved detection signs and feedback of cameras
• Player state (crouched, standing) is now kept after traversal actions
• Fixed an issue where only one NPC would be alerted when whistling
• Fixed an issue where the player could remain undetected in high grass while performing aggressive actions
• Enabled the use of combat in parts of syndicate districts
• Added weak points to various enemies
• Adjusted weapon aiming (spread, recoil, etc.) to allow for more precision and management
• Updated weapon damage values for Kay for all weapons
• Increased headshot damage when hitting enemies
• Improved blaster module usage (Ion and Power)
• Removed player blast damage from the Power module
• Added enemy stagger to explosions
• Added body part-specific death animations to improve combat satisfaction
• Improved NPC cover usage during combat
• Fixed an issue where Kay would put away the holotracker when crouching
• Fixed an issue where hostile NPCs were sometimes marked as friendly and could not be damaged by blaster fire
• Adjusted jumping to give more control in the air of where you will land

UI, HUD and Settings

• Added visual indication of when an NPC starts detecting the player
• Added text highlighting which blaster module should be used when aiming at heavy guards, droids and cameras
• Prompt to ping the tracked objective is now more prominent and affected by HUD visibility settings
• Added icons to environmental objects that require unlockable abilities
• Improved Nix quick action icon by highlighting button when having an active target
• Made it clearer whether a takedown could trigger combat
• Added NPC tags above their heads (works with existing colorblindness settings)
  • White – Neutral
  • Orange – Aware
  • Red – In Combat
• Adjusted Adrenaline Rush cost based on difficulty
  • Story mode – 100% (unchanged)
  • Normal – 110%
  • Challenging/Hard -150%
• Improved wanted system messaging and display
• Fixed an issue where some gear effect icons were not showing correctly

Audio

• Improved enemy dialogue when they are going in and out of cover
• Fixed an issue where sound wouldn’t play through the DualSense controller on PS5
• Fixed an issue where arcade games would be missing music after starting a new game

Cinematics

• Added facial animations to gameplay dialogue scenes and vendors
• Improved animations and visuals of some dialogue scenes
• Fixed an issue where ND-5 would be missing from the passenger seat when landing/taking off from Renpalli or Achra stations

Camera

• Improved camera when shooting, aiming down sights, and moving aim
• Improved cover camera, including the ability to manually shoulder swap when aiming
• Improved the camera by showcasing a better view of each shop when interacting with a vendor

Worlds, Fauna, and Flora

• Fixed an issue with destructible flora
• Fixed an issue where the visual effects created by waterfalls were broken
• Increased the distance at which lights can be seen in the world
• Improved the visuals of some grass textures and mud, especially at distance

Photo Mode

• A new clean lens has been added

Accessibility

• Added a Custom Controller Preset to allow remapping of individual buttons. You can choose separate sets of button swaps for Kay, the speeder, and the Trailblazer.
• Added a new ‘strong’ aim assist setting
• Added a new auto-transfer option for climbing, which lets you automatically hop between climbable objects by moving towards them instead of having to press a button
• Added setting to change how large and clear the effect showing the security camera detection area is
• Sound effects slider split into two separate sliders, for gameplay sounds and background sounds
• Faster menu narration, settings now go up to 400% speed.
• Menu narration now reads lockpicking and slicing minigames, objective hints, and which Sabacc card is currently highlighted in your hand and while drawing/discarding
• Option added to toggle the Cinematic Lens (distortion, fringing, and vignetting effects) off for gameplay
• ‘Fill screen’ is now the default screen ratio, meaning larger text size for the initial menus before you reach the ratio setting screen
• ‘Remove all’ hold input for map markers added to ‘change holds to presses’ setting
• Descriptions of accessibility settings reworded for improved clarity

Miscellaneous

• Fixed an issue where destroying a ship by ramming it would not count towards the ‘Never tell me the odds’ trophy/achievement
• Fixed an issue where the ‘Shoot First’ achievement/trophy and ‘The Better’ ability could not be unlocked at the same time
• Fixed an issue where defeating Death Troopers during certain missions would not count towards the ‘Defying Death’ Ubisoft Connect Challenge

MAIN & SIDE QUESTS (beware of spoilers)

Toshara

• Rejected
  • Fixed an issue where Kay can’t listen at the bar to progress the intel quest

Tatooine

• The Veteran
  • Fixed an issue where the quest line would not start if travelling to Akiva before the dialogue finishes
• Partners
  • Fixed an issue where the cinematic would not trigger if using Adrenaline Rush as the Rancor hits the hangar doors

Akiva

• Revelator
  • Fixed an issue where ND-5 could spot Kay when going from crouched to standing while on a steam vent

Bug Reporter

We’re pleased to announce that reporting issues will now be easier- introducing the Star Wars™ Outlaws Bug Reporter. This website functions the same way as on other Ubisoft titles; it’s your direct channel to view issues reported by other players and to directly report any issues you encounter to our team. We will actively update this board so you will be aware when issues are being investigated, and when fixes and improvements will be rolled out in an upcoming update.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

One Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket player has definitively answered the question of how long it takes to get every card and thus complete Genetic Apex after spending $1,500 on the otherwise free to play game.

Reddit user Weens4Life has provided valuable insight into just how difficult it is to complete the first of many sets coming to Pokémon TCG Pocket, revealing they opened a whopping 1,741 booster packs on their way to pulling every card in Genetic Apex.

Previous estimates that it would take close to two years to complete the set appear accurate, though this does count the 60 incredibly rare alternate art cards and not just the base 226 cards in Genetic Apex. Weens4Life collected this smaller number after spending about $200, they said, but spent between $500 and $700 collecting just the final three cards from the alternate art pool.

Those going the full free to play route will be waiting a while, however. Pokémon TCG Pocket, with its traditional mobile game model, floods players with packs in the opening days but dries up soon after, granting access to just two packs a day during event lulls.

Genetic Apex will not remain the only set for long either, as developer Creatures Inc. has already confirmed an additional, smaller card drop is coming in December and a datamine has suggested the next full set, presumably with another 200 plus cards of its own, will arrive in January.

Weens4Life used the Wonder Pick feature to gain additional cards towards their collection but, as this only presents a 20% chance of pulling the intended one, it’s not particularly reliable. They finished the collection of 286 total cards after amassing 8,582 in total, a pile which included 129 Slowpoke and nine of the super special rare immersive Mewtwo. Not a single god pack was pulled.

This gargantuan effort didn’t cause any regret for Weens4Life, who said spending this amount was worth it. They made clear they wouldn’t be doing so again in the future, however, and will only focus on the base set of cards without alternates.

Efforts such as these make it unsurprising that Pokémon TCG Pocket is estimated to have made $120 million in just three weeks. A total of 30 million players had downloaded the game after just nine days too.

Creatures Inc. has looked to keep interest high by releasing myriad events catered to different playstyles, though only one focused on player versus player battles is ongoing currently. In this realm, the two usual suspects of Charizard ex and Mewtwo ex are currently dominating the meta, though Pikachu ex isn’t far behind.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl has enjoyed a big launch on Steam, becoming one of the most-played games on Valve’s platform on release day.

Ukrainian developer GSC Game World’s post-apocalyptic horror shooter saw a peak concurrent player count of 113,587 on Steam, a number that was enough to place S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 in the platform’s top 10 most-played games list. That dwarfs the Steam peak concurrent player count of all the other S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games, including 2007’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 also launched on Xbox Series X and S and straight into Game Pass, so its combined peak concurrent player count will be much larger than what we’ve seen on Steam (Microsoft does not make its player numbers public). The expectation is that its player count will continue to grow as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 heads into its first weekend on sale.

It also has a ‘very positive’ user review rating on Steam, despite suffering from various bugs detailed in IGN’s S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl Review in Progress.

GSC Game World has told fans it plans to address these bugs with a series of patches. “S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a massive game,” the developer said. “We understand that in such a game, there may still be rough edges: we literally haven’t released anything of this scale before. We’re absolutely committed to being here, monitoring your feedback, and quickly fixing any issues that need our attention.

“In the first days after release, we’ll be working with hotfixes, rolling them out as precisely as possible, but as frequently as we can. Then, we’ll switch to larger updates that include constant improvements.”

Free in-game content is also coming to the game. Expect more on that when GSC Game World shares its roadmap later in December. “We have big plans for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. universe,” the developer added. “In a way, today is both a return and the beginning of a grand new journey.”

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 has suffered a number of understandable delays, most recently in July when the game was due out in September. GSC Game World said at the time that the extra two months would give the developers the chance to fix “unexpected anomalies,” aka bugs.

GSC Game World has also been vocal about the challenges the studio faced getting S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 up to scratch after a mixed reaction to its debut public showing last year. At gamescom 2023, GSC Game World addressed what some had called a “downgrade” sparked by S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s then latest gameplay trailer. At the time, GSC Game World told IGN it was still targeting a visual quality and level of polish suggested by S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2’s eye-catching 2021 trailer despite the horrendous conditions suffered by the staff amid the war with Russia.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Elden Ring, often considered one of the greatest games of all time, is now available for just $19.99 on PS5, PS4, and Xbox as part of the Black Friday sales (or $49.99 for the Shadow of the Erdtree Edition). This offer delivers a massive $40 discount from its original $59.99 price tag, making it one of the standout gaming deals of the season. With this bargain live ahead of Black Friday proper on November 29, it’s an excellent chance to grab the game at a fraction of its launch price.

Pokemon TCG Pocket continues to be ridiculously popular, but in the early days of the game there are only a limited number of ways to engage with other players. Trading still hasn’t been released yet, and battling only has one regular format that lets you start a match with a friend, or a random player. So in order to spice things up, the community is coming up with its own workarounds, including a brand new battle format that’s been very well-received so far: NOEX.

“NOEX” is a battle format with one simple rule: no EX Pokemon allowed. EX Pokemon, if you’re unfamiliar, are ultra-powerful monsters that are very difficult to defeat, but which award two points upon destruction as opposed to just one. Due to their sheer power, most good meta decks in Pocket are built around at least one EX card, and the end result is that you tend to run into a lot of the same decks over and over when you engage in random battles. For the last month or so, for instance, I’ve been playing a deck that revolves around Pikachu EX, and have been fighting a lot of Mewtwo EX, Charizard EX, and Starmie EX.

But in NOEX, all those cards are banned, which forces players to build decks around other Pokemon for some interesting combos. For this article, I engaged in a couple of NOEX battles myself. In one match I faced a Butterfree/Dugtrio stall deck that I’d never seen before that decimated my army of Nidoran, and in another I barely scraped out a win against a wacky Dragonite/Weezing combo thanks to a lucky final draw. It’s a fun format if you want to shake things up a bit.

Unfortunately, NOEX exists on an honor system. There’s no way to officially create your own battle formats in Pocket just yet, so players have created this by word-of-mouth. If you want to join a NOEX battle, simply select “Private Match” under battles, and use “NOEX” as the password. But you’re essentially on your honor to use a deck with no EX Pokemon, as there’s nothing in the system to stop you. Some players are already complaining about opponents bringing EX Pokemon to a NOEX fight and ruining their fun – an unfortunate hazard of a community-created format.

Epic Games is making some changes to its Fortnite Battle Pass model that will see its standard pass getting a price increase in just a few weeks.

The gaming mega company talked players through its plans in a post on its website today. While the update details various adjustments, such as new inclusions for Fortnite Crew subscribers, the thing that’s likely to affect most battle royale fans is the slight increase in cost for the Battle Pass. Fortnite has long offered its standard pass for 950 V-Bucks, but starting December 1, the price will increase by 50, bringing the total asking number to 1,000 V-Bucks.

IGN has reached out to Epic Games for comment.

Hasbro has announced that, following the success of Baldur’s Gate 3, yet another Dungeons & Dragons game is in production.

CEO Chris Cocks told Bloomberg that a fifth D&D game is in development but didn’t share what it’s about, its genre, or the studio making it. It does appear to be in active production, however, as Cocks noted in the same interview that its G.I. Joe game is currently in pre-production.

While D&D has long spawned video game adaptations, the mainstream success captured by Larian Studios’ Baldur’s Gate 3 has seemingly set Hasbro and direct owner Wizards of the Coast into overdrive.

Alongside this mysterious game mentioned by Cocks, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance developer Invoke Studios is also working on a triple-A game based on the beloved role-playing game universe, plus there’s a D&D survival RPG life simulator from the Disney Dreamlight Valley developer.

Virtual reality fans can also look forward to a D&D game too, as Resolution Games, the developer behind tabletop RPG simulator Demeo, is working on a game set in Faerûn too. This isn’t confirmed to be a recreation of the core D&D experience in a virtual setting but almost certainly is. And there’s a co-op D&D game codenamed Project Baxter in the works at Payday developer Starbreeze.

Baldur’s Gate 3 arrived in July 2023 and became the surprise hit of the year, with players obsessing over its seemingly infinite number of playstyles and story outcomes. It was incredibly successful commercially, pulling in $90 million for Hasbro, and is, remarkably, more popular this year than last.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Valve is reportedly working on a sequel to its original Steam Controller, according to an insider report.

Per YouTuber Brad Lynch, a Steam Controller 2 codenamed “Ibex” is in the works, and en route to mass production.

Codename for Steam Controller 2 is “Ibex”

Separate product from Deckard’s “Roy” controller(s)

Both are being tooled for a mass production goal in their factories right now. That’s why I know they’re in later stages of productization

— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) November 19, 2024

We don’t have too many details on controller specifics, but Lynch did say in replies on X/Twitter that it will look like a standard gamepad. The biggest change is reportedly the shape and size of the trackpads “to get into that gamepad-y form.” It will also allegedly have symmetrical sticks.

Sony has officially announced its lineup of PlayStation Black Friday deals, featuring discounts on PS5 hardware, PlayStation VR2, games, and accessories—including the Fortnite Cobalt Star Bundle—at participating retailers and PS Direct.

While the deals officially begin on November 22, here’s everything confirmed so far, along with details on a potential PS5 console bundle discount, new offers on games like Star Wars Outlaws (down to $49.99), and more.

PS5 Black Friday Deals – Starting Nov. 24

If you chose patience with Star Wars Outlaws, then here is your reward. The new Star Wars game has been discounted in the Black Friday sales, now down to $49.99 on PS5 and Xbox. That’s $20 off the original list price and potentially a much better offering for anyone unsure of the game when it launched back in late August.

The deal also features Amazon’s exclusive limited edition content pack, which includes Rogue Infiltrator cosmetics for Kay and Nix. It’s likely the best deal we’re getting on the game before Christmas, so snap it up if you’ve been waiting for a sale, or want to gift it to someone over the holidays.